Not Yet
by angels.go.thump
Summary: She realizes that her plan kind of really sucks, and that she should take a moment to figure out where the hell she's actually going, but the truth is, she's tired, and just walking in a straight line is kind of working for her.


**Hey guys. Wow, I've been gone for a while. I recently got hooked on YJ, and immediately fell in love with the whole Artemis/Wally dynamic. This is my first JY fic, so if I screwed some specifics up, I apologize.**

**The story is under hurt/comfort and friendship, although I left it a bit blurry, so I guess it could be interpreted as romance instead.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters associated with the show. **

**Not Yet**

Artemis is aware that the clump of mud underneath her boot has hardened and is now an uncomfortable lump poking the arch of her foot every time she takes a step. For the past two miles or so, she's been tempted to sit herself down on the beach and scrape it off with a rock, but she figures that the damp sand will make her jeans wet, and once she sits down she'll be tempted to stay there. She realizes that her plan kind of (really) sucks, and that she should take a moment to figure out where the hell she's actually going, but the truth is, she's tired, and just walking in a straight line is kind of working for her.

_We don't want you here._

After the Cheshire incident, she'd known that her teammates would be wary of her for a while. She thought she knew the risk she was taking, leading them down a false trail while she went after her sister, and in a blur of fear and anxiety, she'd somehow missed that the red archer had put a tracker on _her_ as well.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she reprimanded herself in a hoarse voice. She'd gritted her teeth at Roy's smug expression, made herself endure all the hurt looks from Megan, even suffered through the thoughtful but disappointed stares of Kaldur and Robin. Connor ignored her- per usual, so there wasn't much of a loss there. She had expected Wally to be angry; yelling and accusing, but it was as if she had faded out of existence.

10 days she'd waited patiently while he'd avoided her gaze, until she finally tried to confront him, only to be blocked by Roy.

_"We don't want you here_" he'd said. "_We don't need someone who has so many problems; she puts her team in danger"._

He let that sink in for a moment, before he herded her away from Wally's door.

"_I'm leaving tonight; I suggest you do the same before you get anybody hurt._"

Megan would probably be the first to notice, mentioning something as they all sat down to eat. The others would shrug, because who _did_ know where she was? She'd left through the hangar- no way was she letting the zeta tubes announce her departure- and had headed home to change, checking herself over twice to ensure she was bug- free; she wouldn't put it past Robin to stick something on her after the last mission.

She hoped that when they realized she wasn't coming back, they'd at least have the decency to pack her stuff up. Megan would, but she was too eager for approval, and might abandon the idea if she received some disapproving stares from the boys.

She was sucked out of her thoughts when the tip of her boot caught on a loose rock and she tumbled down, barely getting her arms out in front of her in time to stop her face colliding with the sand. She rolled herself over, arms flopping to her sides as she stared at the darkening sky. Maybe she would sleep here tonight. Yes, that was a good idea. The waves would lull her quickly to sleep, and the sand wasn't _that_ uncomfortable. She wondered if they'd feel guilty at all, tying themselves to her absence after a few days, but quickly dismissed the idea. They'd _wanted_ her gone. A deep sigh wrestled its way through her lungs and her eyelids fluttered closed. Her chest hurt, and god dammit, she was _tired;_ tired of walking, or thinking, or feeling. She just wanted to sleep, and maybe get lost in a dream.

She distantly registered a faint thrumming sound, and hoped that it wasn't a cop, because all she wanted was to rest, and they'd make her _move_.

The thrumming grew louder, until it was interrupted by the sound skidding, and a scattering of sand rained across her body. She huffed and turned her head, digging her fingers into the sand.

"... Artemis?"

_"Go away..." _she thought, her fingers burrowing deeper. An arm coiled itself around her torso while another cradled her head. She opened her eyes and was greeted by a blurry image of a redhead with green eyes.

She blinked and the picture cleared. The redhead's eyebrows were drawn together in an angry expression, and his mouth was set in a firm line.

"Are you stupid, or just suicidal?" he bit out harshly, yanking her into a sitting position and brushing god knows what out of her hair. "I've- we've been looking everywhere for you. Do you have any idea how worried we all were when Megan told us you had disappeared from the link, and then Rob said you communicator had gone off line? Are you even wearing it right now? What if something had happened to you?" he started to check her over. "No communicator, an empty bow, no phone, no-"

He broke off as she hesitantly reached up and poked his face.

"Wally, why are you here?"

"What?" he looked confused, maybe a little hurt, but that could have just been the exhaustion getting to her head. "What are you talking about? I'm finding you."

She shook her head. "I'm not lost; I'm leaving." She whispered the last part, as if it was a fragile secret that one of the circling seagulls overhead might swoop down and snatch away. Wally looked bewildered.

"What? But… but _why?_" he stood up and cradled her frame in his arms, shielding her eyes as he started to sprint back to the mountain. "You _can't _leave."

"I'm a liability" she mumbled, barely loud enough for him to hear. "I'm stubborn, and I'm insecure, and I have so many problems I'm still trying to work out in my head." She pressed her face against his chest. He was so warm, and the sound of his accelerated heartbeat was lulling her to sleep.

A chuckle rumbled through his chest, and she faintly registered the press of soft lips against her forehead.

"That's the most pathetic reason for quitting I've ever heard" he chortled. "You're going to have to do a bit better than that if you plan on leaving the team anytime soon."

She mumbled something unintelligible against his chest, and he grinned down at her crookedly.

"Come on Spitfire, let's go home."

**Please read and review. Thanks!**

**agt**


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